The bright reds and yellows that define children's toys have turned into warning signs for many parents, who are thinking twice about what to buy in reaction to news that a growing list of Chinese-made trains, tops and other products are being recalled because they contain dangerous lead paint.

But parents also are realizing the threat isn't limited to current toys -- it's potentially already hidden on dusty shelves at homes, or found on Internet resale sites, since some of the products placed under recall haven't been offered new for years.

The result is that parents are starting to look twice at many products, wondering which ones could possibly hurt their children.

Hinsdale mom Carolyn Benedict, who has two kids and a third on the way, said Thursday she had been diligent about checking her home for Thomas & Friends products that were part of a recall of almost 2.5 million Chinese-made toys this summer. She didn't look very far beyond the listed products though, and now realizes she can't vouch for the safety of all her older toys. "I'm going to really have to re-evaluate," she said..

The latest recall, which was expanded Thursday, is for a Thomas & Friends spinning top that hasn't been sold new since 2002 but was purchased through eBay by the Tribune and found to contain lead at 40 times the legal limit. The manufacturer, Schylling Associates of Rowley, Mass., is recalling 51,000 tops in Thomas & Friends, Curious George and Circus Top lines.

With parents questioning the safety of toys, some manufacturers see the lead paint scare as a marketing opportunity. For example, a Missouri-based toy train company is redoing its packaging to add an American flag to the front to play up that the product is domestically made.

"Our sales have jumped in the past two months 38 to 40 percent," said Mike Whitworth, president of Missouri-based Whittle Shortline Railroad Inc., which makes wood train sets the same gauge as Thomas trains. Until recently, most of his sales have been made online and to individual stores, but now two mid-size chains have called Whitworth to inquire about his product line.

Many parents say other than giving books or gift cards, which is not a big hit with the preschool set, there aren't many alternatives to toys made in China. Melissa & Doug is a line of educational toys frequently singled out as high-quality products. But a customer review last week of its 100-piece wood blocks set on Amazon.com said, "Not to be paranoid, but noticed these were made in China. Have these been tested for lead paint?"

Marcie Pickelsimer of St. Charles is among those particularly concerned about the growing list of recalls. Her 4-year-old son, A.J., frequently seen with a Thomas train in-hand, was adopted from Russia two years ago and has tested positive for lead poisoning as well as other metals. For the time being, that means no more Thomas or anything made by Fisher-Price Inc., says his mom, a frequent contributor to Chicago Moms Blog who has written about the recalls.

"Parents are talking about it because it makes people think about what else [with lead] is out there," she said.

The lead scare from China has come as a jolt to many American consumers because the metal was banned from most products in the U.S. three decades ago. Lead can cause brain damage if ingested by children, lowering IQs and causing developmental delays.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there is no safe level of lead exposure for children and recommends that all children be screened by a pediatrician once a year, especially those who are 6 months to 6 years old.

The exposure from sucking or gnawing on a toy containing lead is likely to be less concentrated than swallowing it, although experts warn that there is no simple way for parents to reliably know how much lead a toy contains. Tests are available, and some experts endorse them. But they often produce false results, said Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson, and the commission doesn't endorse them.

The highest danger comes from lead surface paint on products, no matter what they are made from. The Thomas & Friends toys that have been recalled were largely painted wood products. A separate recall by Mattel Inc., parent company of Fisher-Price, involved plastic products with dangerous surface paint. Vinyls and other plastics sometimes contain lead, Wolfson said, but the plastic itself has to be broken down to release the lead, making it less of a danger.

Experts say lead paint has been turning up in Chinese-made products because it is cheaper and easier to use than other methods. Lead is also abundant in China, and there are no government restrictions on it.

There are three common, but different, processes for making lead paint -- one that creates white paint, another for yellow and a third for red, said Christian Warren, historian at the New York Academy of Medicine and an expert on lead poisoning. For this reason, red and yellow paint are of particular concern. Other colors are made by blending pigments into white paint.

Most experts note that parents shouldn't panic about their children's toys. The exposure to lead household paint or lead dust and soil around the house is a much greater risk. But that doesn't mean parents shouldn't be vigilant, Wolfson said. The safety commission lists recalls on its Web site ( www.cpsc.gov), and Wolfson said parents should compare those announcements with what is in their children's toy chest. Any suspect toy should be taken away from a child and dealt with according to the instructions on the recall notice.

On Thursday, Mike Mowder, owner of the Toy Station in Lake Forest, removed a Thomas spinning top from the shelf even though it has a plastic knob, not the wooden one affected by the recall, so as not to invite discussion about the recall.

"I believe this is a very good thing for us," Mowder said. "We don't have those kinds of things that are big-box market items. People get a little scared of what other items might be [out there] so they come looking at the mom-and-pop stores."

The concern about lead has rattled companies across the country. The Step2 Company, based in Ohio, makes its toys in Ohio and Georgia but doesn't want to make hay of competitors' misfortunes because it could still get stung. Components for some of its products and electronic parts are sourced outside the United States, as is a new line of small hand-held playsets.

"Unless you're over there and watching every step of the way, you could be open for that kind of problem happening," said Dotti Foltz, vice president of marketing communications. "We certainly don't want to jump on the bandwagon and start beating our chest because this can happen."

Parents, too, aren't sure when it's safe to stop worrying.

It wasn't until after Karin Sullivan of Oak Park bought the 24 pencils her daughter needs for second grade that she noticed they were made in China. It made Sullivan, who as a child had pencil bite-mark contests with her friends, question the safety of the pencils, both inside and out.

"Devastated" by the blizzard of recent recalls, U.S. toy companies of all sizes are rushing to test products manufactured in China, said Carter Keithley, president of the Toy Industry Association, a New York-based trade group for U.S toy manufacturers and importers.